


Secret Admirer

by FlashDriver



Category: Sonic the Hedgehog - All Media Types
Genre: F/M, Time Travel
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-14
Updated: 2021-02-14
Packaged: 2021-03-15 14:28:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 9,978
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29437542
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FlashDriver/pseuds/FlashDriver
Summary: Time travel is a fickle thing, Silver the hedgehog knows that better than most. He has changed the future a dozen times at least, seen cities reversed from ruin and made devastated by new calamities. Today though, time travel will show him something totally different and thrust him into a position the likes of which he has never experienced before.
Relationships: Blaze the Cat/Silver the Hedgehog
Comments: 2
Kudos: 17





	Secret Admirer

Silver the hedgehog did not understand time travel, that was a truth he had long come to accept. While the books he’d read, often fictional in nature, gave their own takes or explanations with regard to changing history, he’d found that the truth was far less consistent. He’d often jump back a century or two to change things, to save his friends or the world from disaster, but those changes often resulted bizarre contradictions. Upon returning to the future he’d find it totally changed by his actions, so what happened to the prior, destroyed, world? 

On one occasion the world might’ve been cracked into chunks by a giant monster only to be flooded by an entirely different one upon his next visit, but he seemed to be unaffected by the world’s changes. Well, that’d been the case nine out of ten times. The first time the future had been saved was the exception to the rule. Following the battle with Solaris, his life and all he was had been reset to zero. He’d been reborn and regrown to the point of being able to change the future again, an occurrence that he didn’t understand and that could hypothetically happen again at any point. That happening now would mean losing his memories again, forgetting not only himself and his friends but his closest partner all over again. Regaining those memories once had been so difficult, a second attempt might well prove impossible.

So, if he didn’t understand time travel and it could be so dangerous, why on earth was he daring to do this? Why had he hidden himself in the bushes of the royal gardens, from dusk till the rapidly approaching dawn, staring up at his best friend’s balcony? Why had he turned back the clock a single day to crouch in the hedgerows for what must have been over ten hours? Well, because the oncoming morning had been a rather bizarre day for him.

——

The day had started in a not so peculiar way. He’d awakened as his door was kicked in and a familiar voice bellowed through the entryway, “Rise and shine mate! Your Sheila’s here and I’m hungry!”

Though this happened every third or so day, her words had sent him tumbling from his hammock and he only just managed to catch himself before he could hit the ramshackle floor, “Good morning Marine,” He managed to groan, floating himself upright, “It’s morning already?”

“Morning, afternoon, evening? What does that matter, I’m telling you to get up, get your head on mate,” She beamed up at him, already dressed in her shipwright’s overalls, “I heard about your late night out, but that’s no excuse to leave your lady hanging, let alone leave me without breakfast!”

“Late night out? What are you...?” As he rubbed the sleep from his eyes, the hedgehog’s brain kicked into gear. Marine only used terms like Sheila when she was talking about one person, “Wait, Blaze is here? I thought she was busy today; we were going to meet up tonight?”

“Well, for obvious reasons, she wants to see you now,” Marine’s grin went from excited to mischievous, “You’d better not keep her waiting.”

Marine had joked about the two of them being more than friends for some time now, so this was nothing new to the hedgehog. Whenever he left for the castle the raccoon would ask if he was going to see his girlfriend. Whenever they went on outings, professional or otherwise, Marine would insist on calling them dates. Blaze still seemed to struggle with it sometimes but, to be honest, he’d learned to let it fly over his head. The words Blaze and girlfriend had practically become synonymous in Silver’s head, even if he knew they weren’t actually the same.

Regardless of Marine’s chosen vernacular, Blaze’s mention was enough to send him into a hurry. Psychic light filled the room, his semi-private space in the bric-a-brac house that Marine had made, and immediately set about preparing him for the day. A set of boots pulled themselves onto his feet, his gloves slipped over his hands and his quills were straightened from frightful bedhead into their usual maple leaf style. There was a time when he wouldn’t have cared to do any of this, when he’d have simply stumbled put there to greet her, but the feline had trained him to be far neater in this second life.

“Alright, let’s go,” He grinned, knocking the door ajar with his powers before stepping around her.

“Hey, don’t get distracted by her, mate. I still want my breakfast!” The shipwright whined, trotting along behind him.

Their hut on the beach was a small place, mostly made of driftwood and iron, so it didn’t take Silver long to perform his usual stumbling dance over Marine’s half-finished inventions and into the kitchen. The combined cooking and eating station was at their home’s entrance, it was the first room any visitors ever saw. He’d made sure to clean the surfaces and put everything away the night before, in an effort to avoid an earful from his feline friend. The sight Silver encountered so heavily contrasted what he’d left last night.

Not only had the raccoon evidently awoken early and started tinkering, laying out all manner of machine on the kitchen table, but his companion looked so very different. For once, the guardian of the Sol emeralds wasn’t wearing her royal robes. Blaze was instead garbed in something far lighter, a long white sundress with a ruffled style. Its straps were thin but made to look thicker by what, even from a distance, the hedgehog could identify as embroidered felt lilies. There she sat, absorbing all of his attention, a simple glass of water placed in front of her. Was she smiling? It looked like she was, but maybe not fully. Well, it wasn’t unlike her to smother such an emotion.

“Good morning, Silver,” The hedgehog felt something strange in his chest as her words distracted him from his staring. Suddenly, it felt hotter than usual. That phenomena had happened a few times, but Blaze had sworn that it wasn’t her power’s doing.

“Good morning, Blaze,” He beamed, ignoring that strange feeling. Marine barged past as he stood somewhat stunned in the doorway, “I thought you were busy today?”

“I am, I’m just,” She went from smiling to fidgeting very quickly, hands set upon get glass, “Stopping in. I wanted to make sure you were okay.”

Blaze was apparently good at hiding her emotions but, for as long as he could remember, Silver had been able to see through them. Right now though, there was something flickering across her brow that Silver couldn’t place. She looked uncomfortable but Silver had seen her uncomfortable, he’d seen her sleeping on tarmac when they couldn’t reach their beds, this was a very different kind of discomfort. As if to make things even stranger, he couldn’t help but notice the heat lines that were blurring the air around her frame. That was a sight he only ever saw when she was seriously angry or upset, it usually indicated an immanent burning outburst and gave him time to mediate. 

Again though, he couldn’t help but notice, despite that hint and her apparent discomfort, was that happiness in her eyes? A strange smell seemed to hang around her. It wasn’t unlike the feline to use strong perfume to mask the scent of flames but beneath the smell of lavender there was something else. Something had undoubtedly caught fire, but he couldn’t place what.

“What, me? Yeah, I’m fine,” He said, stepping fully into the room as he pulled himself from another daydream, “That dress is so nice, it really suits you.”

“Thank you,” She quickly uttered, raising the glass to her lips and absentmindedly casting her gaze to the ramshackle room’s large window

“Geez, you two really aren’t good at this,” The younger girl sounded, jumping up to sit at the table, “The dress is nice, Silver? After everything, that’s the best you could manage?”

“I mean, Blaze always looks pretty so it’s difficult to compliment her,” He quickly and bluntly responded, honest as ever, “But that dress makes her look even more beautiful than normal; it really suits her,” Silver saw an opportunity to enquire and turned back the feline, “Is something happening today?”

“No, not particularly, I just...” As the feline was talking, seemingly without her even noticing, her left shoulder ignited, “Was curious what you thought of it. I bought it a while ago thought I should wear it out for once. I’m glad you like it.”

“M-Mate, you’re-

Before the raccoon could finish, Silver had gently stepped to Blaze’s side. Concern was welling in the hedgehog’s head, not because of the fire itself but what it represented in Blaze’s mind. Casually, as he had done so many times before, he reached out and pressed a psychically shielded hand upon her shoulder. In an instant, like a hood covering a candle, he dispelled the flames with a gentle hiss. In their wake though, Silver felt a tenseness in her body.

He leaned in, getting face to face with her, but the prokinetic’s eyes fled from his, “Blaze, are you okay?”

“I’m fine, Silver. Sorry, I just lost focus for a moment,” He’d known her long enough to know when she was lying. Something was going on.

Silver leaned in even further, pushing his forehead against hers, “You feel hotter than usual,” He confirmed aloud, meeting her eyes as he pulled back, “Are you sure? You might be sick...”

“I’m fine, really,” She insisted, “I-I just wanted to see you as soon as I could.”

“See me?” Silver blinked, confused, “But aren’t we meeting tonigh-

Before he could question Blaze any further though, Marine started to yell, “That’s more like it! See Silver, when you try, you can do it. You should sweep her off her feet more often; who knows, she might wear more pretty dresses.”

“Marine,” The guardian frowned, her ears folding, “If you must make such comments could you please keep your voice down.”

“Well I’m sorry I’m getting in the way of you and your boyfriend’s private time,” The youth stuck her tongue out, “But he’s supposed to be making me breakfast!”

“Fine, Marine, I’ll start on breakfast. Just settle down,” The psychic sighed, casting his aura across the room. The cupboards popped open, jam and utensils floated their way down to the worktop as bread jumped up and into the toaster, “So why did you want to see me, Blaze?”

“I just thought I should...” She shook her head, seeming to return to a more stoic demeanour, “I wanted to make sure you two were okay and now I know you both are, I’m glad. That’s all. Thank you for the water, Marine. I should probably get going.”

Something was wrong, something was definitely wrong with his partner. Silver felt his heart beat faster as he called out to her, “Wait, um,” She froze at his exclamation having just left her chair. He had no idea what to say but he knew he didn’t want her to leave, not until he understood, “Do you want some breakfast?”

“I need to hurry back to the castle,” She bit her lip, “But yes, if it’s not too much bother I... suppose, yes.”

The feline slid back into her seat and, instantly, a smug look overcame Marine’s face. Should he have asked that? Did the raccoon know something he didn’t? They seemed to have talked before she woke him up. 

“Alright, I can do some toast really quickly, that way you won’t start work on an empty stomach,” Silver suggested, throwing a small smile her way. 

The little grin had returned to her face and she had stayed. That was a good sign, right? She really had been hotter than usual though; in fact, she’d gotten even hotter the longer his head pressed against hers. Something was wrong or, at the very least, he didn’t understand what was going on. Regardless, Silver reset the toaster and slid two more slices in.

“So,” Blaze broke the silence again, he tried to stop staring, “Do you two have much planned for today?”

“Oh, the usual, you know. Start work on a couple new ships, go a sail,” Mischief was reborn on the raccoon’s face as she threw her gaze towards him, “Silver?”

“Might do a little bit of gardening or tidy the house a bit. I was honestly just going to wait the day away till I could come see you,” He turned to Blaze and admitted but, still sensing the tension in the air, he felt he had to say more, “So it’s nice to see you now. How about you?”

Almost instantly, Blaze’s gaze broke from him and fell back to her now almost empty glass, “Well, in a manner of speaking, I planned to do the same, until this morning,” Again, that strange half smile had overtaken her face; it was as though she was happy but, simultaneously, grappling with something else. Those heat lines looked even clearer too, Silver swore that he could feel her warmth radiating, “Not to say today’s meetings aren’t important, but I’d be lying if I said they addressed was especially pressing. It’s mostly updates on projects already well under construction, deciding whether and where to assign more funding. I honestly already know which projects need an extra boost and what projects are on the right track.”

“Anything we could help with?” Silver piqued up.

“Oi, don’t speak for me mate,” Marine blustered across as Blaze took a moment to think.

“Well, there was a plan to build a new lighthouse on the island that has rather stalled. The shores aren’t especially dangerous but there has been some call for it,” Blaze responded, ignoring the youngster.

“Wait, a lighthouse? Strewth, that sounds great,” The shipwright claimed, doing a complete one-eighty, “That’ll be easy. With Silver’s help, I could get it done in a weekend.”

“If you want my help then I’m more than happy to give it,” Silver promised, “Will that make your meetings easier?”

“Significantly, thank you-

The popping of the toaster cut the feline off. The psychic cast his hand across the room, but he kept his eyes on his companion, “Jam?”

“Blackcurrant if you still have it,” Blaze ordered, “I think that’s still my favourite of the batch you made.”

The hedgehog felt a wiry smile bend its way over his lips. Silver wasn’t the easiest person to fluster, apparently he was oblivious to most embarrassing things, but that compliment cut to his core. It wasn’t the first time she’d said that, but it still sent heat to his cheeks.

“I want strawberry and peanut butter!” Marine insisted, seeming to struggle with not being the focus for a full second.

“I know Marine, I know,” He managed to mutter, turning his full attention to the task in an attempt to smother his glee.

Quick as a flash, cutlery flew and jars were unscrewed as the hedgehog kited the toast toward completion. One after another, two plates landed on Marine’s ramshackle table. Silver meanwhile simply kept his overly topped toast in his psychic grasp.

Marine immediately set about devouring her plateful but, as ever, Blaze was more courteous. With a quick, “Thank you,” she claimed her first mouthful. Silver took the middle road between the two of them, eating quickly in his own bizarre way, but also knowing how not to make a mess. All the while, he sent the cutlery to clean itself and began to psychically tidy. 

The raccoon, her mouth still full, snorted, “Show off. I shouldn’t have to do any chores; you can do them all so easily.”

“It’s important to take responsibility, Marine. Silver won’t always be here to look after you,” Blaze tutted.

“Yeah, so while he is here, I should take advantage of him,” Was her whining response, “If I could do what he can then I’d have made so many more ships by now, you’d practically have a navy!”

“You take advantage of him enough as it is,” The feline insisted, gesturing to the half-formed metal masses on the table, “Look at this mess, it’s all yours but he was planning on cleaning it up. How many times has he done that?”

“Blaze, if you’re going to act like my Mum then can you at least hurry up and marry Dad?” Marine sneered. 

Silver had expected another retort, the two could bounce back and forth like this for hours, but instead a silence hung in the air. The time traveller looked to Blaze only for her gaze to quickly flick away from him. She raised her glass to her lips only to find it empty, he hadn’t seen her take the last swig.

Silver felt compelled to break the silence, “Marine, you can’t keep saying these things…”

“Oh, what, now that you’ve actually made a move I can’t joke about you two? No way!” The youngster jeered.

He blinked, “What d-

“I-I need to get going anyway,” Blaze cut him off, “My first meeting is about to start.”

“What, already?” Silver could feel that strange vibe in the air, it was stronger than ever, “But you just got here.”

“It can’t be helped; work may wait for me but I don’t want to delay others. Besides, you’ll see me again tonight, won’t you?” She asked, perhaps rhetorically or perhaps not, “Just come in how you usually do, sneak in through my back window, I might be a little late now that I’ve...” Again, Blaze’s shoulder caught fire but this time the feline noticed and obsessively patted it out. Concern and regret overtook her face before she tore her gaze from him. She rose from her seat and stepped past him, heading toward the door, “I need to go, the meeting will start soon.”

“Blaze, are you sure you’re okay?” He called across, just missing as he reached for her hand but successfully halting her in her tracks, “You’re acting strange today. If you need help with something then I’ll do my best, you know that, right? Just like with the lighthouse.”

“Don’t be so naive,” She’d practically snapped at him but when she looked back at him that strange emotion had filled her eyes, “If you can do this then I can do this.” 

He was so confused but he couldn’t get a word in before the door opened. Her smile grew and fused into whatever other emotion had been battling. Silver had seen Blaze set herself alight and charge into battle, he’d seen her conjure a million different flames, but that smile was more blinding than any she could produce. He wanted to etch it into his mind, hold it close and never let it go. He’d seen countless expressions on that pale muzzle of hers, but none of them could compare to this simple yet complete smile.

Her words almost failed to break him from a trance of her own creation, “I’m so glad I managed to see you this morning, but I’m already looking forward to tonight, Silver.”

“S-See you later, Blaze,” What was that? He’d stuttered? Why did his mouth feel dry all of a sudden, what was going on?

Once the door was closed, the grey hedgehog rushed to the window, wanting to watch the guardian depart, only to find she’d frozen a few paces from their porch. She raised a hand to her forehead, seeming to rub her brow, only for her entire upper back to burst into flames again. He watched as she pulled her hand down her face and balled her fists at her side. Though the flames grew brighter for a moment, they were soon snuffed by her own will. Silver watched as she quickly marched away, without another glance back or moment’s hesitation, but his eyes were drawn to her tail. Even while the rest of her had returned to a seemingly serious state, that appendage was flicking back and forth.

“Oh strewth, look mate, she’s left you something!” Silver’s thoughts were again interrupted as he turned to find the raccoon had left her seat.

Atop the chair she’d fled, Blaze had left a small package wrapped in white paper and bound with a cyan ribbon. He approached and Marine, having taken a gander at it herself, passed it his way with a smug grin. Attached to the ribbon was a tag which, in Blaze’s cursive and neat handwriting, read, “To my Secret Admirer. It was my first time making these and I had to rush, but I hope you manage to enjoy them. From your own Secret Admirer.”

“Secret admirer...?” He read aloud, still staring at the small package.

“I mean, come on Silver. You didn’t really think you could trick her, did you?” Marine said, on the verge of laughing, “Who else would leave Blaze flowers? Of course she knew it was you.”

Silver felt the gears in his skull clang and rattle as he struggled to parse through all this. What Marine had just said was clear but the parcel, Blaze’s dress and how uncomfortable she’d looked? It was all compounding, but there was a problem.

“Flowers? What flowers?” Silver asked, still staring at the little parcel.

“Aww come on, mate, don’t play dumb. You’ve been caught. She told me herself, she went out onto her balcony this morning and there was a whole bouquet out there. That’s the way you get into her room, right?” Marine snorted, jumping back onto her chair, “You just fly up there and go through the balcony door, that way no one else knows about you two havin’ your lil’ kissing sessions. Of course she knew it was you, who else could have put the flowers there?”

Did Blaze not receive flowers often? She was the guardian of this dimension after all, not to mention the best person he knew. He supposed them arriving on her balcony did make things different, did perhaps imply they were from him. But they weren’t. Someone else had put them there. 

The gift in his hands wasn’t for him, it was for them.

“Who else could have put them there...” Silver parroted, eyes still fixed to the package. 

“Mate? Mate, are you still there?” Marine snapped her fingers bur his attention barely wavered from the dozen thoughts fighting in his head. He only just managed to look up at her, “I always knew you had it in you, but I didn’t think it’d be so soon. I was sure you two would pussyfoot around your feelings for another couple of years at least.”

Who could this so-called secret admirer be? There was no way it could be someone from the other dimension, getting here was just too much trouble for them. Was it one of the palace staff? Had a maid or a butler cleaned Blaze’s room and left the flowers there, only for them to be discovered the day after? 

The hedgehog’s nose twitched. Whatever he was holding, it was producing the scent that had undercut Blaze’s perfume. The cat had tried her hand at baking or cooking of some sort, by the weight and scent that much was clear, but he couldn’t bring himself to open the parcel. Even though she thought it was, this parcel wasn’t intended for him. This package was intended for her secret admirer, whoever had plucked up the nerve to set flowers on her doorstep. Though he had happily eaten her food before, Blaze always seemed embarrassed about her cooking. She’d never thought highly of what she made. 

She must have rushed to make this gift, unwilling to let that show of affection go unreturned for even half a day.

He had to make things right, he had a duty to! And what choice did he have either way, he couldn’t claim responsibility for the bouquet at her back door. No matter how he felt, if it was concern or happiness or... something else. What was this feeling? There was a strange tightness in his chest and a bizarre concoction of emotions swirling in his head, all of which entirely confused him. He kept visualising her where she’d sat when he’d walked in the room, that little smile on her face and how it’d grown as she left.

“Well, go on mate, don’t keep me in suspense. Aren’t you going to open your prezie?” Marine asked, still entirely oblivious. 

Thoughts were still streaming through his head, but they’d latched onto a single idea and new thoughts had begun to chorales around it. He had to find out who this admirer was and either tell Blaze or give them her present, he wasn’t sure which. But how could he do that? How could he mend this faux pas? 

A sound began to blare in the room, very almost throwing Silver from his feet. The hedgehog’s eyes tracked it to its source, tracing up the wall, only to find the rickety cuckoo clock that Marine had made last month. A painted green bird had poked its head through a pair of doors and began to whistle. It was as he stared at that clock, its hands reading eight in the morning, that a thought fought its way through Silver’s jumbled emotions.

What if he went back in time to scope out Blaze’s actual secret admirer; what if he went back and identified them? Could he do that? Of course he could do it, but should he do it? Was that right? Was that wrong? He felt a headache growing behind his eyes, like an ice-pick wiggling its way into his brain, as all of his confusion returned. 

He had to do something, but this was all he could think to do. Having seen that smile on her face, just telling Blaze it wasn’t him didn’t seem right. He’d find out who this secret admirer was and then explain the whole situation tonight, give her the choice whether or not to know who they are and then whether either of them should deliver the present. Something about that still didn’t sit right with him, something he couldn’t place, but he had to do something! He had to make things right; he had to help her!

“I need to go, Marine. I might not be back till tomorrow,” He said, hearing the faintness in his own voice.

“That’a boy! Chase after her, just like Amy does Sonic; bust down the door, interrupt that meeting! Now’s your shot so you’d better not waste it!” Marine yelled, but Silver barely heard her over the racket in his head as he raced out the door and began to channel temporal psychic energy.

—

His position in the bushes was growing more uncomfortable by the microsecond, he’d surely been squatting for hours now. There hadn’t even been a nice night sky to look up at, he’d been staring up at her balcony and its plain white curtains for what felt like days. Traveling back through time to arrive here had been the easy part, the wait was the real killer. He’d sent himself back to just after sunset, knowing that his arrival in the midst of the night might scare off the princess’ potential suitor. It was a far smaller jump through time than he regularly did, the shift backwards hadn’t tired him in the least, but now his eyelids were heavy and the balls of his feet ached. The sun was rising, the world was beginning to awaken, and Silver couldn’t help but feel a little tense. No bouquet had arrived on Blaze’s balcony nor had one been present upon his arrival. No one had so much as entered the royal gardens in the entire time he’d been here. 

Silver heard his stomach grumble; it’d been calling out to him for the past three hours, just as time had switched from trickling like molasses to stumbling like a lost snail. Sequestered in the hedge beside him was Blaze’s gift, a parcel not set to exist for what was likely a handful more hours. It was food he wouldn’t dare claim for himself and that had convinced time to tick by even more slowly. 

He’d already fantasised about the package’s potential contents, of course he had. Cookies seemed most likely to him, Blaze had made him cookies back when he’d first arrived in her dimension, but perhaps that disqualified them. He’d heard that people made each other chocolate on Valentine’s Day and, with that event being advertised as just a couple of weeks away, he had drawn an association between such a gift and romance. Come to think of it though, he wasn’t especially well educated on what romantic rituals were in this dimension. For all he knew, there could be bread or a croissant in there. He was fairly sure he could rule out fish or some other cooked meat and modestly certain he could limit his assumptions to baked goods, but not entirely.

As his stomach made yet another demand, Silver couldn’t help but sigh. Whoever this supposed romantic was, they were certainly leaving it to the last second. Blaze had a busy day ahead of her, especially since she was set to cook this gift and visit him. There was no way she’d be up any later than seven. The hedgehog had slept over in her room enough times to know that, despite how it clearly annoyed her, the guardian always set an early alarm and insisted on leaving her bedroom by seven. Every day had to be productive in some shape or form. Well, almost every day.

Once or twice, when he’d stayed over, she’d ended up breaking that rule. He’d always blamed himself for those occasions, they’d stay up playing games or reading or simply talking. When they’d lived together in the destroyed future there had been no hard rule on when to wake up, so Blaze always blamed that for her tendency to sleep in around him. Would nights like that still happen after her misplaced assumption was revealed? Could they?

He shook those thoughts from his head, he couldn’t daydream; he had to stay alert! He was on a mission! There was no way she’d sleep in today if she’d found time to bake. By now the chirping of birdsong had begun to breach the airwaves, a sign of the ever-encroaching morning. This was a sound that Silver knew almost too well, on the more common occasions that they hadn’t slept in he’d spent the morning identifying them. Pretty songbirds weren’t uncommon on the island, their chirps and hums punctuated almost every outing, but, for once, Silver couldn’t bring himself to focus on their music. Their presence implied that the moment was approaching, Blaze would awaken soon.

This suitor was really leaving it to the very last moment. If they were leaving it this long then the delivery would surely be quick, but Silver wasn’t even sure how they’d reach her balcony. The overhang was a good ten metres off the ground, Silver could only get up there because he could fly. There were no vines or trellis to climb and the wall was practically smooth. Maybe they’d just throw the bundle of flowers up there? With the right arc it was certainly possible, but a slight miscalculation could ruin them. The longer he’d considered it, the more it made sense that Blaze had assumed he was the source.

By this point he’d, of course, considered this suitor’s nature a hundred times over. He’d gone through countless names and faces, dug his way through a bottomless well of theories and found none that could satisfy him. The closest he’d come was an assumption that only served to raise several additional queries; that this supposed suitor might have been someone that he, and perhaps even Blaze, didn’t know. Those flowers might have been sent her way by some daring admirer, perhaps having gained an admiration for the feline following one of her speeches. The cat seemed to loathe those even more than the meetings that preceded them, but there was no denying that Blaze could keep an audience on their toes. 

He’d heard that the feline’s speeches scared some of the populous, the feline herself seemed to think they all did. Blaze could be stern, she could be gruff, but her every word carried a charisma that he couldn’t ignore. Whenever she was on a stage or even just in the room, he could barely take his eyes off of her. It was as if she was magnetic, capable of reeling him in without so much as trying. It wasn’t so unthinkable that someone else would see things as he did. Despite her disagreeing, he’d long assumed that was the norm.

The balcony was still empty. The rustling wind, the groan of his stomach and the chirping of the birds’ morning choir were making his ears ring. He’d be kept in the dark for some time, the sun rose from the castle’s front and set towards its back. This was intentional, so Blaze had told him. When the island had first been settled, this plot had specifically been designated for the palace and designed to grant a sunset view from the royal bedchambers. It was the very first thing decided upon, thought to aid in appeasing the Sol emeralds. Now though, it simply made for an astonishing view. Night was oh so long away, regardless of the path he took to it. He couldn’t dwell on that though, the mere thought made him even sleepier.

Silver dared to cast a quick glance skyward. He found that the clouds had begun to part above him, the deep navy he recalled had shifted more towards an indigo. He’d surely missed the sunrise for a second time by now but, as much as he loved to watch a good sunrise, this was more important. Time kept ticking on and on, its meandering waltz taunting him more and more with each passing second. Though he wholeheartedly believed his task was important and knew he wouldn’t regret this hungry isolation, the hedgehog couldn’t help but grow more aggravated at this secret admirer. What was taking them so long? If they wanted to hide from her then they should have delivered the flowers hours ago, around the one or two in the morning. Sure, they might not have known her schedule, but they had to assume she rose early, right? Thinking otherwise was-

In the blink of an eye, the white curtains were parted. For what couldn’t have been more than a second, Silver saw Blaze in her nightgown before she slipped back and into her room. Morning had arrived, morning had undeniably arrived, yet Blaze’s secret admirer was nowhere to be seen! Attempting to be subtle, trying his hardest to be stealthy, Silver fully poked his head from his bush and took in his greater surroundings. He was still flanked on either side by rose bushes, red lilies still bloomed in their plots before him and the grass looked entirely untrodden. No one had come, no one had even so much as passed though; outside of his presence and that of the flickies, the gardens had gone entirely untouched! 

He dared to stretch to his full height, glancing over the hedgerows, only to find a similar scene lay behind him. Though his shift spooked some of the birds, it didn’t reveal any hidden person. No one was here, he was the only one here! If things were regular then Blaze was about to leave and take breakfast; she’d baked instead but that was beside the point, she was going to be out of that room in no more than twenty minutes. 

Desperate, feeling sweat mount on his forehead, he half whispered yet half shouted, “Hey! Secret admirer, where are you?”

No reply, not even a movement, came.

As though it was some great feat of psychic might, a realisation made Silver almost faint. Blaze had already opened her curtains; she’d already looked out to the world below. Was she even going to look out her window again? But the events of today had happened, he’d already experienced everything first-hand! Her gift was still in the bush, her secret admirer couldn’t have missed their moment, why would that even happen? 

He could feel sweat greasing his palms, he grabbed her gift and held it tight to remind himself that it was real. She had arrived at his home in that cute dress, though awkwardness had limited her, the feline had smiled at him in a way she never had before. It’d all happened, he could remember it clearly, but how many times had he changed the past? Was this his fault? By trying to observe the inciting incident, had he shifted the timeline in such a way that it never occurred? There were sayings about this, that changing the slightest thing could have drastic ramifications for the future. He’d never experienced that in all his travels, he’d always had to really try to change the world, work hard and fight. Little travels tended to make no difference, he’d go back to visit Amy or Sonic and find his future the same, why would that change now?

As his head rattled, Silver couldn’t help but cast his mind back. Blaze’s smile as she’d left the hut, had that just vanished from this reality? The effort she’d gone to this morning, was that gone too? She wouldn’t do it all without cause, she wouldn’t have lied to Marine about the gift; something had to have happened, flowers had to arrive. It was supposed to happen, it had happened! She’d worn that dress for a reason; those flowers must have meant a lot to her, but why? 

In all his hours out here, in amongst the roses and the lilies, he’d not even consider it once. What was a bouquet to her when she had this garden filled with flowers?

That simple question spun into another; would she have done what she had for any stranger who delivered her flowers? Given her position, the guardian of the Sol emeralds surely received far more lavish gifts on a regular basis… didn’t she? She did. He knew she’d received flowers, flowers and so much more. Outfits from renown designers, jewellery from around the world, expensive foods and marvellous furnishings. What was a bundle of flowers on her windowsill compared to those gifts? He’d never seen her in that dress or any like it before, so it wasn’t as if her change in garb was tied to receiving just any gift. Was it because she thought it was from him? Had the gift’s form not mattered at all? Was the assumed intent behind it enough to change things or… did it mean more because it had come from him?

Giving gifts wasn’t unlike Silver, despite how difficult it was to pick gifts for Blaze. Usually he’d end up baking her a cake or cook her dinner, that way the effort behind his actions was clear even if it was a bit plain. His jam was a prime example of such a gift, something he’d made for her. Whenever she casually bought him things, utilising her great wealth, he’d end up jumping for joy and beaming. Blaze’s reaction to his gifts were usually more subdued but she always made her thankfulness clear. Though it was rarely as over the top as this morning, she always returned his gestures. Did she do that for anyone else? Surely, if she received so many gifts, being so personal would take up a ridiculous amount of time.

His heart was thumping against his ribcage, beating like their feet against the pavement as they’d fled from Iblis. What was he thinking, how dare he even think this? If was foolish, selfish, naïve! No matter how special their bond was, Blaze surely valued all the gifts she received.

But experience told him that she didn’t. Though Blaze took pride in her position as guardian, she didn’t care for baubles attached to it. She’d complain to him about public appearances and newspaper photos for hours on end, only wear her regular robes despite having a closet filled with different outfits. She didn’t even wear much jewellery, despite having boxes filled with the stuff. It seemed like those gifts, only conjured due to her position as princess, meant litle to the pyrokinetic. But did that mean, no matter how basic, a gift from him meant more? It was all so confusing, what had happened to her secret admirer? Why did they have to put him in such a difficult situation? What were all these feelings?

The clicking of a latch threw Silver from his thoughts and sent him tumbling back into the bush, the flickies immediately fled at one of those two sounds. From an even less comfortable hiding spot, awkwardly lying with her gift atop her chest and rose thorns in his back, the hedgehog watched as Blaze the cat appeared on her balcony. She was dressed, but not in the outfit he’d seen a few hours in the future. Despite her regular robes, the sight of her face as the cracked remnants of thoughts reconstituted in his mind was enough to set his cheeks alight. In a few hours from now, he’d say that Blaze always looked pretty. He’d always considered that to be the truth, but it’d be said out of impulse, as a way to quickly placate Marine. In this moment though, it was undeniable. Even in the shade of her castle, from such a difficult angle and obscured by countless branches, Blaze was beautiful. Her amber eyes could cut the dark so casually as to make the sun jealous. 

But her coming out here now was practically a miracle, why had she done it? He wasn’t sure what time it was, but her bout of impromptu gift preparation would undoubtedly take an hour or more. For things to go as they had, she had to start now. Time had run out, the suitor had missed their chance, that smile and her joy was set to be erased from reality. For whatever reason, that person simply hadn’t shown up. Why? What could have happened? Where could they be? He’d been the only one here, it wasn’t as thought they’d got cold feet at the last second. There was no way, he’d stayed up all night, he’d have noticed if someone had come and gone.

It was then that Silver remembered one of the many thoughts he’d cycled through while waiting for the suitor. He didn’t know how time travel really worked, he’d read books and observed a handful of oddities, but he didn’t know the truth about all that. All he knew was that Blaze’s suitor was supposed to leave flowers on her balcony this morning, that Blaze would be leaving her room with no intent on returning any moment now, that he was the only one in range of her balcony and that he was surrounded by flowers. It seemed like the perfect set up for a very specific kind of time paradox that he had never experienced nor observed. A time loop of sorts.

Of course, he immediately dismissed that as a stupid thought born of his tired and hungry state. Having thoughts about their bond or how pretty she looked was entirely pointless now, the suitor was supposed to show up here and secretly drop off a bundle of flowers for the feline so that she’d come to him. That was how things were, that was how things were supposed to be. Besides, the flowers around him were her flowers; surely her supposed secret admirer would bring their own?

His thoughts were cut short as, without the birds chirping to obscure things, Silver was able to hear knocking at Blaze’s bedroom door. Marine had mentioned that the flowers were on her bedroom landing, but perhaps she had been mistaken? Maybe things were somewhere else then he’d have missed-

“It’s Gardon, your majesty! I’ve got news to share,” He managed to only just overhear.

Ah, it was Gardon, perhaps he was the one who delivered this apparent secret suitor’s flowers.

He watched as she turned to look into her bedchamber and spoke, “You may enter.” 

“Your highness, I’m afraid a number of today’s meetings have been rescheduled. It’s going to be an earlier start than we anticipated,” Oh, that made things seem even more impossible. What time was it?

“Oh? Has something happened?” She questioned. If Gardon had brought flowers, then he’d have led with them, right? And surely she’d have mentioned them, Blaze was usually very blunt.

“Unfortunately, the manager of the island’s bridge projects has found himself double booked. Apparently, an environmental survey is set to occur for one of the construction sites. He is most apologetic, your highness,” No mention of flowers, nothing; Gardon clearly didn’t have them.

So, if this suitor was going to arrive then this was surely the moment. It had to be here, it had to be now, while she was distracted. They’d run up, throw the flowers, and run away… right?

Silver’s heart began to race once more. He cast his gaze to his surroundings but still no suitor had shown themselves, no individual had arrived to show their affection for Blaze. He was the only one here, he was surrounded by flowers and time was running out. That preposterous, ridiculous, and unfounded concept flagged within his mind again. He’d never known time travel to work as he was imagining. But then, he didn’t know how time travel worked in the first place.

“That’s fine, it can’t be helped, but, Gardon, how many times have I told you not to use that title,” With that complaint, the pieces all aligned, an opportunity had revealed itself.

Without another moment of hesitation, not so much as thinking as he moved, Silver stepped from the bushes and cast his hands to his surroundings. With power of psychokinesis, he clipped roses from the hedge and cut lilies to size. As flower after flower gathered in his psychic grasp he winced, regretting that he hadn’t foreseen this possibility in time enough to take flowers from literally anywhere else. He glanced to his surroundings, making a final check. There was no secret admirer, only him. Explaining himself this evening was going to be oh so awkward, perhaps even more awkward than if a suitor had appeared, but he didn’t have time to dwell on that.

“I-I’m sorry, Blaze,” The koala was stammering, it was almost like destiny! Rushing with his psychic powers, he threw himself into the air with her still to be made gift in one hand and his gift not yet given in the other, “It’s a failing of mine, I know. I must improve.”

He passed behind her and placed the flowers atop her balcony wall. Fortunately, Gardon had assumed a full bow as part of his apology and entirely missed the psychic’s appearance. The hedgehog passed entirely unnoticed.

“Regardless, I’m almost prepared. I’ll be down for breakfast, tell the manager not to worry,” Blaze sighed, turning just in time to miss the psychic as he flipped up and onto the castle’s roof. The very last thing he saw was her ears flickering as she noticed the bouquet.

“V-Very well, thank you,” Gardon’s voice, made almost inaudible by Silver’s new position, was punctuated by the closing of the bedroom door.

Silver didn’t dare look down from his roost, despite how desperately he longed to see the look on her face. Knowing what it led to, it must have been a smile just as beautiful as the one she’d worn before leaving his home. Still, this all didn’t quite sit right with Silver. There was still every chance that her suitor was supposed to show themselves, that he had just abused his power and interrupted someone else. Careful to remain outside Blaze’s potential view, the hedgehog dashed across the palace roof and scanned the grounds as best he could. 

He kept to the rooftops, checking all directions in search of some hidden suitor whose plans he might have just ruined. None manifested, no matter how hard he searched, but it took the sight of Blaze leaving the castle, dressed as he’d seen and would go on to see her, for Silver to finally stop. No matter where he looked, no matter how he tried, he could find neither an individual fleeing the grounds nor anyone approaching with flowers. The hedgehog ended up near the front face of the castle, opposite to where he’d been, hiding behind a turret in an attempt to avoid any backward glances from Blaze. Dropping to his backside, his eyes fell upon clouds coloured scarlet and the sun drifting above the horizon. The day was just beginning in the kingdom of Sol; a slightly younger him was out there, still fast asleep.

There was a term for what he’d just created, for the time anomaly he’d just experienced. If everything had gone as he thought it had then Silver had just made a bootstrap paradox, but there was only one way to know for sure. He had to go back, he had to live in what he’d created. No matter how beautiful the sunrise was, it couldn’t compare to her smile, and he didn’t have time to rest.

\---

His arrival at his own doorstep was a bumbling one. No less than five minutes after he left, but no more than ten, Silver the hedgehog manifested outside Marine’s shack. The hedgehog immediately did a full three-sixty, taking in his surroundings. As far as he could tell, there were no drastic changes from the morning he had lived through. Their beachside home was still untouched and Blaze was nowhere in sight.

Pressing himself against the building, the hedgehog dared to peer through the kitchen window. He immediately identified Marine, sat at the table and tinkering with a model boat. There was no sign of the feline inside or a time-displaced doppelganger of himself, everything seemed to be how he’d hoped it’d be. How it seemed and how it was weren’t necessarily the same though.

Feeling even more thoroughly exhausted after his jump back through time, he managed to barge his way into the house and locked eyes with the youngster, “Marine, what just happened? Is everything alright?” He practically snapped, stumbling over his feet as he slammed the door shut with his back. 

“Silver? What’re you doing back already?” She asked, plainly surprised, but didn’t wait for his answer, “What do you mean what just happened, of course everything’s fine. You ran out there after Blaze… don’t tell me you got cold feet already,” Marine shook her head in disgust, turning back to work.

That was a good sign, but it wasn’t enough for him, “A-And what was she wearing? When she was here as in; was it her normal robes of something different?”

“You should know mate, you complimented her on that dress twice. What’s the matter with you? Why are you back here?” Marine questioned, “Honestly, she went to all that bother, dressing up and coming down here, early in the morning no less, just to see you and drop off a gift. Didn’t she teach you to say thank you for that kind of thing? Honestly mate, if you can’t act now, when will you?”

“Oh, so everything’s fine, just as I left it. Good, a-alright… I need to sit down,” The hedgehog said, going lightheaded with relief as he slid down the door. 

He hardly heard Marine’s prattling in response. His eyes flickered to the cuckoo clock in the wall, barely eight minutes had passed since he’d left this building. It wasn’t even ten past eight in the morning, yet he’d endured at least a full day’s worth of stress. As strange as things were, they seemed to have settled down to embrace some kind of consistency.

The concept of a bootstrap paradox was one that didn’t come up in much literature, but there were a handful of tales about individuals traveling back in time to warn themselves of immanent events in bizarre and cyclical manners. He’d once read about a theatre enthusiast traveling back in time to meet a famous playwright only to end up writing all of their plays and living their life, thus inspiring that same fan’s own journey back to meet that same bard. Despite those fictional tales, Silver hadn’t considered that such a paradox was possible.

But, as he now knew better than ever, he didn’t know how time travel worked. He jumped back in time and really just hoped for the best. Perhaps it was all a lot more fluid than he’d imagined, maybe the rules weren’t set in stone so much as written in the sand of some interdimensional beach.

“Mate? What happened in the last five minutes?” Marine was now staring at him quite quizzically, “You look an awful state, are those leaves in your quills? Why are you so muddy?”

“It’s a long and strange and… stupid story, I’m not sure I even understand it myself,” Was all the explanation he could stand to offer, manually pulling himself back to his feet before waddling across the room to slump in his seat. 

Immediately, his head was back to buzzing and filled to burst with questions. Who had sent that initial bouquet, who had set all this in motion? Was it better to ask what had set this all into motion or when they’d done it? Silver had no idea, just like the fan turned playwright he’d read about this happening to. They were impossible questions with no answer, at least none he could wrap his head around or ever hope to experience. The universe had made him question his relationship with Blaze, had him deliver her flowers and effectively set up tonight’s rendezvous as a date without any concrete or observable reason. 

It took sitting there, half asleep, for a solid few minutes for him to even begin constructing plausible origins for what had occurred. Had a future version of himself, having come to embrace and understand the emotions now bubbling in the present hedgehog’s chest, travelled back in time and set the first bouquet on her windowsill? But then, in doing so, had they overwritten their own timeline and been erased while the events remained, resulting in him going forward and delivering the flowers instead. Would a version of himself really delete themselves from reality just to make himself realise he felt some strange feelings for Blaze a bit earlier? Why would they do that? Perhaps to change the timeline itself, to undo some different calamity.

If there had been an attack and he had lost Blaze again, perhaps that would have prompted the kind of introspection he was still experiencing. He’d lost her once; he didn’t want to even consider losing her again. Maybe a future version of himself had rewritten the timeline through the bouquet, attempting to change things between them in a major way such that the future itself might shift. Maybe he’d given up his life in order to perhaps save Blaze or the world. That seemed like a more traditional reason for him to use time travel, but perhaps the hedgehog was just trying to justify all he’d done and what had happened to himself. 

Despite the depth of Silver’s tired contemplation, the pained moaning of his stomach was enough to rupture his thought bubble. The hedgehog’s eyes fell to the white paper parcel in his hand, now a little rough around the edges but still sealed. Hearing his stomach growl again, he finally undid Blaze’s bow and peered inside. A puff of smoke bellowed from the wrapping, forcing him to briefly close his eyes. In the aftermath, Silver found himself staring at six black masses with paper bottoms. Muffins, she had taken the time out of her morning to try and bake him a gift, to return his affection as quickly as possible. Despite their charcoaled exterior, Silver couldn’t help but smile at the sight of the confectionary. 

Warmth swelled in his chest as he drew the first one and took a full bite. While it was harder than he’d anticipated, and there was certainly a smoky flavour, he could taste all that she’d tried to do. Blaze had sewn chocolate chips throughout sugary dough of her own making, clearly trying her hardest to make something sweet. Trying his hardest to savour, though urged on by his empty stomach, he quickly made his way through the first and onto a second small cake.

“Are you sure you want to eat those, mate? I could shoot them out a canon instead,” The raccoon cringed, clearly not appreciating the time and effort Blaze had put into her baking.

“I’m sure,” Regardless of what anyone else would think of them; to him, they were perfect.

“Are you still going to see her tonight?” She asked, already refocused on her work, “Gonna be honest, you really do look a state.”

“Yes, I’m still going,” He managed to admit between mouthfuls, “I think I might just nap till then though.”

“And you’ll shower before going too. You’ve set yourself up well, regardless of whatever all this mess is about. I won’t have you spoiling it by showing up filthy,” She insisted before launching into another rant, “Honestly, I don’t know why you decided to roll around in the mud instead of chasing her. Are you that much of a scaredy cat? Come on, there’s still time, she’s probably not running towards the castle; you could just fly out after her, sweep her off her feet, all prince charming like and-

As Marine’s words gradually became white noise, he lost himself in the potent flavour of another muffin and managed to smile. Fate had separated them in the wake of a grandfather paradox only to stitch them back together. For it to still be weaving them together was strange but not ludicrous think. Perhaps that stitch was still tightening, even now. Regardless of how blatant and tailored this supposed intervention had been, no matter how it’d unnerved him, he’d had to act. Not only was such a change in history a threat to his own timeline but the idea that her happiness might be erased was just too much to bear. 

Was he going to be able to do this though? Fate had set them down such a strange path and short path; in less than a day their whole relationship had been flipped on its head. In the blink of an eye he’d gone from her companion to her secret admirer, from her best friend to some sort of supposed romantic. That thought warmed his cheeks and made his chest tingle in ways that were becoming frightfully common. 

For as crazy as this morning had been, this evening was set to be far more insane. Could he explain this to Blaze? He had to, there was no way he could hide this, she’d know something was bothering him the moment he arrived on her balcony. Still, regardless of time’s whims tossing them about, he’d try to make his care clear. Whether prompted by fate or not, no matter how he struggled to face it, he’d been the one to do it; he was her secret admirer. 

New and strange emotions still buzzed in both his head and heart but, as reality itself seemed to have insisted, these feelings were undeniably real, and they weren’t going way. He just had to figure out what they meant. Surely that couldn’t be more difficult than understanding time travel… could it?


End file.
